Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Thrace, the Thracian king, Oeagrus, and the muse,
calliope, had a son, named orpheus.
When orpheus was still very young, the god, Apollo, taught him how to play the lyre.
By the time he reached adolescence, he had perfected the lyre, and became the best musician
there was.
Whenever orpheus played the lyre, all the animals came out to listen.
His music made the stones, and trees, to dance.
Once, orpheus was playing his lyre, when he saw a very beautiful woman, whom he instantly
fell in love with.
The woman's name, was Eurydice, and she also, had fallen in love with the fine man playing
the lyre.
Before long, orpheus married eurydice.
The couple lived in happiness and harmony, for many years, until one fateful day, when
eurydice decided to take a stroll.
She was walking in the forest, in the company of some nymphs, when a shepherd saw her, and
lusted after her.
As the shepherd tried to rape her, she managed to break free free and ran.
But while running, eurydice stepped upon a poisonous snake, and was bitten by the snake,
causing her death.
When orpheus found his wife's body, it had gone cold.
The venom had long gotten to her heart, and killed her.
In his grief, orpheus sang a song of sorrow.
Everything living, and non living, was moved by his song, even the gods were deeply touched
by his grief.
The god Apollo told him, that only if he descended to hades, would he be able to see his wife
and bring her back.
Orpheus was ready to do anything, so he agreed.
No man entered or left the realm of hades alive.
But with the protection of the gods, and the guidance of apollo, orpheus did.
Orpheus travelled to the gloomy underworld, to the Stygian realm, where he saw many souls
of the dead, both known, and unknown.
With his music, orpheus enchanted cerberus, the three headed guardian dog, which allow
him to go on ahead to the throne of King of the dead, Hades, and his queen persephone.
Orpheus knelt at the feet of hades, intensely pleading with the god, to let him take his
wife back.
But the heart of hades was as cold as ice, and he was not moved in the slightest.
Then orpheus began to play his lyre.
He sang all the mournful songs ever known to him, so beautifully, that the hard heart
of hades softened.
Hades allowed him to take Eurydice with him.
But there was a condition.
Orpheus would not look back at his wife, till they came into the light, at the surface,
or he would lose her forever.
Eurydice ghost would be walking behind him, and if orpheus was patient enough, he would
have her as his wife again, alive, and normal.
Orpheus thanked the god, and made his way out of the underworld.
Surely, as hades promised, Eurydice closely followed behind, waiting to come out to the
light, to become human again.
When they got close to the surface, Orpheus strained his ears to hear Eurydice's footsteps,
but heard nothing.
He began to think the gods had fooled him.
In his doubt, He forgot that eurydice was a ghost, just a shadow, and one could not
hear the footsteps of a shadow.
Alas!
Orpheus turned to see if Eurydice was behind him.
Indeed, eurydice was behind him.
But because he looked back, the ghost of Eurydice was drawn back to the underworld.
She was gone forever.
Orpheus tried to return to the underworld, but a man could not enter hades twice, while
still alive.
Orpheus' impatience had cost him Eurydice.
Roaming the earth aimlessly, Orpheus wished for nothing, but his own death.
He wanted to join his wife in the underworld.
In his sorrow, he shunned the worship of the gods, except Apollo, whom he continued to
pray to.
Orpheus again, sang songs of sorrow, asking for his death.
When the Maenads, the female followers of Dionysus, saw him, they began to throw stones
and sticks at him, for scorning Dionysus.
But the stones and sticks refused to hit him, due to the music of the lyre.
Furious, the women and satyrs ripped orpheus apart, during their drunken dance ritual,
but orpheus' head refused to died.
Still singing mournful songs, his head and lyre, floated down the river, to the island
of Lesbos, where the people there, buried his head, and built a shrine in his honor.
Apollo silenced the singing head afterward, and orpheus' soul returned to the underworld,
to the Elysian fields, where he was reunited with his beloved wife, Eurydice.
This is the story of Orpheus.